Grease feeder



W. L. MORRIS GREASE FEEDER April 29, 1930.

s Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Aug. '7, 1916 IN VENTOR 1 B Y L. W

A TTORNE Y W. L. MORRIS GREASE FEEDER April 29, 1930.

Original Filed Aug. '7, 1916 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 @QLDM INVENTOR ATTORNEY April 29, 1930. V w. L. MORRIS 7. 1,756,657

GREASE FEEDER Original Filed Aug. '7, 1916 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR WLZZL CMVL L. C I MWYM A TTORNE y cation Patented A r. 29,1930

. WILLIAM L. menus, or cnrcneofnlrmors, ASSIGNOIt To nnnmx .nvm'rron cons FORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,

Original application filed august 7, 1916,,Seria1 No. I 1928. Serial This a plication is a division of my applierial No. 113,653, vfiled August ,7, 1916, for grease feeders, I This invention relates particularly to a 5 grease feeder for filling the grease cups of an automobile, but, of course, it may have a more general application wherever it may be used. The principal object of the invention is to provide a'grease feeder with which the grease cups or devices may be filled without any loss of grease and in the quickest possible time.

Avsuccessfu]v grease feeder should be able to accomplish a number .of important results; it should be'of such construction that a central system' could be employed feeding grease from a pipe line under pressure or a hand operated system, both of which can be easily and quickly attached and successfully used. A central system should be able to. fill four or five grease cups a minute; a hand system should be able to .filltwo or three cups per minute. Either the hand or the pressure. feed shouldbe arranged to feed apredetermined amount at each feeding; the central system at about 200 pounds pressure, thehand system at about to 75 pounds pressure, both systems having means of. showing whether the grease has been fed, Any feeder should have sucha construction that grease is prevented from oozing out when disconnected from the grease cup due to the air re-expanded, and there must be no pressure at the discharge connection when the grease feeder is detached. The connection to which the grease feeder is attached shouldpermit of'connection from any one of several angles on account of the many positions in which cups are placed'on a car; The,form of grease feeder should be such that an exact alignment of the feeder is not necessary in order to make the connection; the form of grease feeding connection should be one which will permit a considerable movementof the grease feeding device without imposing too greata strain on the smallconnections of the grease cups. The attachments for the grease cups should be uniform in size so that the feeder can readily be attached thereto regardless of-the size or make of the grease cup itself. These are only. 5 a few-pf the'requirements for a successful A. CORPORATION OF DELAWARE GREASE FEEDER 113,653. Divided and this a lication filed ma 5; l'a- 2 4 grease feeder and the present device is believed to answer all these requirements and many others as will hereinafter be set forth.

'The invention consists in the features of novelty in the construction, combination, and arrangement of the several parts.- 7

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 1.1 of Figure 5]; Figure 2 is a view in elevation of the lower part ofthe construction 00 shown on Figure 1; Figure 3 is a View looking I at the under side of the movable clamp member; Figure 5 is a transverse section taken on the line 55 of Figure '1; Figure 6' is a plan section of the measuring device taken on the line-6. 6 of Figure 1'; Figure 7 is-a perspective of the rotatable measuring member and its transversely movable 'plug; Figure 8 shows the measuring device of Figure 7 with its by-pass in communication; Figure 9 is a perspective of the hand plunger; Figure 10 is a perspective of,a rotatable sleeve valve; Figure 11 is a cross .sectional view throughthe plunger and sleeve when the grease port is shut off; Figure 12-shoWs one grease'plug attachment; Figures 13 and. let show other forms of grease plug attachments-at different angles; Figure 15 is a" diagrammatic view illustrating grease handling by suction; and Figures16, 17 and 18. are views showing a power grease feeder. Y

This device is intended to store a quantity of grease and then deliver it in small quan- 'tities to different bearings or grease-cups, and instead of the grease storage being in each of the several grease cups which must be screwed down to feed the grease, the. storage is in the feeder. Also instead of feeding grease from the grease cups by manipulating. themand refilling them when empty, this device is attached directly to the bearing to be supplied with grease and the grease is fed from it, the grease feeder being refilled instead of the cups. It is impossible to feed grease slowly and automatically for a consid- 5 erable time, particularly with a device like the ordinary, grease cupand it is for such bearings as require only a small" amount. of grease that this device is particularly suited.

Grease cups become fguled with dirt and im- 10o from entering.

shown by referring to Figure 15 in whichpurities so that they are difficult to manipulate and when there are many cups there is much labor involved in adjusting and filling them'. Another purpose of this device is further to save labor, but it will also save grease and avoid admitting much of the. dirt and impurities that get into separate grease cups. This feeder can, be quickly attached, the grease forced to the bearing, and the feeder detached. The various details employed are chiefly for the purpose of saving labor.

' This feeder comprises its attaching device,

a greasefeeding mechanism, a quantity meas-.

uring mechanism, and the grease storage and suction feeding mechanism. Tn'some cases the entire combination of devices is necessary, while in some other cases a power pump may beused to supply grease under pressure in connection with the attaching and measuring mechanisms.

Grease is a peculiar substance to handle and until its characteristics are pointed out the new and novel details employed in this device will not be sufiiciently appreciated. Grease being a solidor rather a semi-solid, more or less plastic, will not flow unless it is forced by pressure. If suction is applied to a chamber or receptacle containing grease, air will pass through the grease where there is the least resistance. If air is prevented from entering at the point of least resistance thenthe suction will be greatest at this point and by increasing the length of travel that the air would have to take, the greater will be the suction at points of least resistance which are covered to actually prevent air This can be more clearly the disk D is forced down on the grease in a suitable receptacle to exclude air from the mass of grease so that the pressure per unit of area at the point A would, when suction is applied to the outlet E, be much greater than necessary to move the grease, gradually becoming less at the point B and the lowest possible pressure at the edge of the disk C;

really less than'that required to move the grease. Stating this a different way, it is the combined pressure on the entire disk 1) caused by the suction that is sufficient to withdraw the rease, but the pressure at the edge of the dis is too low for air to pierce thru the body of the grease. Thus, although the 1 grease may be almost entirely removed from such a receptacle by suction, the'length oftravel of the air thru the grease would be so great that more pressure would be required to puncture thru the grease than to withdraw it from the'suction opening.

Another consideration in handling grease v is the difliculty of keeping air out of the grease container; such air as would be encircled or pocketed by grease while placing it in the container. When air and grease are'confined together the measuring device will not measure accurately; furthermore, the pockets of air re-eXpand when suction or pressure are alternated, and when detaching the feeder from the'bearing the compressed air may' eject grease at the connecting fittings. The

shallower the container and the larger its filling opening, the less air will be pocketed while filling the container with grease. It is further desirable to employ the. form shown to serve this Valuable purpose for the form of the container makes it possible to insert or fill it with grease without pocketing air, the form and shape of the lid or cover making it practicable to suck grease from the container withoutair piercing thru the grease. This device also relieves pressure on the grease at the point of connection before disconnecting therefrom.

In feeding grease to different bearings some cdnnecting members it is necessary to have a self closing valve so that any confined pres-. sure in the bearing will not eject grease when the parts are separated, or when the joint is disconnected. The pressure at the grease feeder connection, that is, at the end of the feeder itself should first be below atmospheric pressure to prevent the grease fromescaping from the open end of the feederand the feeder should then be opened to the atmosphere before disconnecting it; this insures that the pressure is not above the atmosphere so it Will discharge grease, and at the sametime not enough below the atmospheric pressure to draw grease back into the feeder and allow air to enter which would have to be forced into the next hearing filled. It-has been shown in practice that the feeder: herein shown and described will doall of the above things and answer all of the requirements for a successful grease feeder.

In the accompanying drawings'the numeral 1 designates generally the grease receptacle having the form shown in cross section in Figure 5 throughoutdts' entire length as shownlin Figure 1. This grease receptacle 'has an opening 1 thru which grease is sucked from the receptacle, the sides of the opening being spaced from the'points where air may enter approximately the same distance in all directions. The resistance against air leakage is made as near the maximum as possible for all points, From the'opening 1 a pas- L sage 1 extends which is the grease, outlet to the cylindrical portion 1 of the receptacle casing. A lid or cover 2 is pivoted at one side of receptacle 1 on a pivojk2" and serves a far more valuable purpose than merely to keep dirt out of the grease redeptacle and is pressed down firmly on the grease after the receptacle has'been filled with it, thereby forcing' the air and some grease outwardly around the edges and leaving the contents of the receptacle solid grease from which air has been excluded with the cover bearing firmly upon it. A handle 2 affords means for raising and lowermovable which has at this end a block 3 adapted to fit in the slit 4 so that the outer radius of the block is the same as that of the sleeve. The plunger cantherefore be moved longitudinally'wit'hout moving the sleeve and when the plunger is rotated the sleeve rotates, also. At the outer end of theplungen is. a handle 5 flat at one end but having a distinguishing scroll 5 to designate the position of the port in the sleeve valve 4. This handle is secured to the plunger by a pin 5". At the outer nd of the plunger is a retainer gland 6 which is positioned close to the outer end of.- valve sleeve 4, allowing only enough clearance so that the sleeve will rotate. This glandis formed with a shoulder to prevent its being pressed in against sleeve 4; and a packing nut 7 'with interposed acking 7 prevents leakage around the gla 'd and retains the plunger and the sleeve 4 in. place. In operation the thereof. To this stem a handle 11-is' attached by means of a pin 11, with, a lower extremity 11 adapted to make contact with stops 8 proj ecting from the casing. \Y

In front of the rotatable member 9 is a glass disk 12 against which the rotatable member 9 is pressed by means of a spring 13. The glass disk is held in place with a retaining ring 14 and made tight with packing rings 15. The stops 8 at the back of the measuring deviee are so placed that the lever 11 can be turned half way and back again to make the ends of the slot 9 register with openingsin the casing 8 for discharging the grease. A packing nut 16 and packing 16* prevents leakage around the stem 9". This measuring device has a bypass 9 whereby the grease which passes through need not be measured. This by-pass port 9 can be turned to the position shown in Fi ure 8, thereby shutting ofi'the port or slot 9 In releasing the lower end 11 of the lever 11 from engagement'with stops8", the rotatable member 9 is moved away from the glass disk 12, compressing the spring 13 and allow-: ing theend 11 to ride ontop of the stops 8 1 until the position shown. in Figure 8 is reached. If this position is to be maintained for some time, the stops 8 would be notched at the by-pass position so that the rotatable member 9 will be locked in this position and allowed to return to its normal position against the glass 12. In the bottom of the slot 9 of this member 9 areholes 9 for relieving pressure between the rotatable member 9 and the casing 8 when the rotatable member is drawn back to disengage its handle from the stops.

=When the floating'piston or plug 10 is at' I oneendof the slot 9 as shown by Figure 1, closesadischarge passage 8*; the piston s larger than the passage and closes over it ti htly, much the same as a check valve. In

. P ung 3 can be h Ht/11.5116 block Figure 2 the rotatable member 9 is turned comes in contact with the gland 6. The boss .1 to which the gland and packing nut are attached is shown as an-integral part, of the receptacle 1. The bore at the discharge end of the cylinder is sufliciently smaller than the diameter of the valve sleeve 4 to provide a shoulder againstwhich this end of the sleeve may rotate, and also. form a stop against which the inner end of piston 3 may contact to limit its travel in this direction.

The case of the measuring device is designated generally by the numeral 8 and may bea separate and distinct part attached'f to the receptacle linstead of an-integral part as of the piston, at alltimes, and whether grease has traveled through the measuring port, and

The quantity of grease discharged each stroke can be varied by varying the length of the floating piston 10.

At the discharge end of the measuring device casin is a'nozzle 17 which has Tcommuni- ShOWII in Figure 1. In this. casing 8 is a Ci1- ati0n wit the passage 8 and with the I charge from the by-pass 99 so that either a cular bore in which a rotatable member 9 is movable. I Thislmember 9 has a slot 9 through 1 measured or' unmeasured quantity-of grease can be discharged therefrom. slidable onalso shows if air is in the charge of grease.-

this nozzle is a clamping member 18 which has anattaching extremity-18 jo'pen from below and 'areduced opening 18 at the end shown by Figures 3 and 4. These openings are proportioned to receive a. spherical end gt a ball fitting '24: as shown by Figure 1, so that it can be clamped between the member 18 and the end of nozzle 17, a spherical bearing face 18 being formed in the clamping member as shown in Figure 3 and the end of the nozzle 17 having a spherical seat.

Extending from the clamping member 18 l are ears 18 as shown in Figures 1,3 and a by which the member is pulled up to the nozzle 17. A pull lever 19 has legs l9 which bear against the ears 18, the lever being like an inverted U with the upperend loosely engaged by the stud 20 upon which are adjust- 7 and a spring 21 is therefore placed at the nozzle end of the clamping member tending to keep hearings in contact. These connections can be made with full bearings as 23 and would bear against the opposite sides of the different bearings dispensing with thespring, but this would not be as satisfactory as the construction shown,

A link or pull rod 22-has a long eye 22 -at one end, through which the'pin 19 extends,

and the other end 22 is IF-shaped, forming a bearing part ateach side. An operating lever 23 is formed with a pivotleg 23 at each side. which hasa bearing in recesses of legs 1, preferably formed integrally with the bottom of receptacle 1. In this lever 23 are bearings 23" for the T-headed extremities 22 of link 22, so that the movement of the lever '23 carries the T-head past the line through the center of the eye 22 of the pull rod and .ures 12, 13, and 14 different the bearing 23 -of the lever, until a shoulder 28? of the lever 23 abuts a stop or projection I on the bottom of the receptacle. The limit of travel in the other direction is. determined by the engagement of a shoulder 23 of the lever with the pull rod 22, as clearly shown in Figures 1 and 2.

An end ported fitting 24 is clearly shown in Figure 1, having a threaded connecting end and a hexagonal portion 24 for attaching it. In the port is a ball valve 25 "which is pressed against a valve seat 26 inserted at the end of the port by a spring 27. In Figforms of ball fitting are shown; the port of the ball or spherical fitting 28 is at the side and in Figure 12 the numeral 29 designates generally a pin or bearing for receiving lubricant, with a grease cup end 29 threaded into a fitting end 28*;

in Figure 13, a member 30 is similar to the fitting shown in Figure lwith the exception that the port is at 45 degrees. In Figure 14;

the ball fitting 31 has a port at a special angle, and has its lower end headed over and around an opening in a standard grease cup cap 32, the stationary part of the grease cup clamping member will slip on the ball up to a point such that it bears on the neck; the neck however would be considerably smaller "than the opening 18 shown in Figure 4.

The operation of this device is asfollows: the cover 2 is raised to the position 2 and with a small paddle or'putty knife, grease is placed in one side of receptacle 1, and as more is add-- ed and squeezed down into the receptacle, it is filled from one end to the other. This method of filling expels the air. When the receptacle is full, the cover is forced down firmly, squeezing out the top air together with some grease. The surplus grease iscut away with the putty knife and put back into the grease 'pail' or barrel and the feeder is ready to use after first takin astroke with the plunger 3 and discharging grease back into the pail to see that the grease is filled in solidly. With a rag in right hand to wipe off outer end of attachments, and filler in left hand, the clamping member 18 is placed over a spherical connection and the clamp lever 23 is pulled up to its stop with the left hand. With the right hand the grease is drawn into the sleeve 4 by moving plunger 3 outwardly and with the scroll on handle 5 standing up: At the end of the outward stroke the handle 5 is turned half way around with the scroll at bottomv which closes the longitudinal port Rand the plunger is moved in, forcing grease from the sleeve through the measuring device.

To disconnect, the lever 23 is pushed back with the left hand and clamping member 18 is disengaged ready to fill the next bearing. If the measuring device is being used, then while going from one bearing to the next, the handle 11 is turned half way around against its other stop 8. The grease will hold the cover 2 firm- 1y by suction. so it will not open even when placed upside down. When the receptacle is empty, the increased resistance will be noted whenpulling out the plunger as the cover 2 would be at the end of its travel. Where much grease is to be handled, the plunger and receptacle would be stationary and much larger with flexible metallic hose run to the measuring and clamping device. The pump in this case would be power driven with a weighted accumulator arranged to ,cut out the pump I drive. when full and thei1 throw it in when pgarly empty, as shown by Figures 16, 17 and If a-central service station system is used 5 with a power pump to discharge-the grease, the grease cups under, the ,car, such as for brakes, rear axle swivel, universal joint, and the like, should point to such a position that a man in a cleaning pit beneath the car would find them "eas of access. A piped pressure system for discharging rease requires a pump to create a pressure of about 200 pounds. Grease cannot be readily placed in the small end of a long container, and when so placed, 1 air is apt to be confined between each application of grease, while it is being pressed in. A shallow container with a lar e opening can be filled much more readily an air kept out entirely if grease is'ca-refully-placed so thata.

volume ofair is not pocketed with the grease.

'Where a certain movement, such as the travel of a ramdetermines the amount of grease fed, possibly no other device would be necessary. .With either the hand-or power 5 form the measuring device should have a bypass to permit an unmeasured quantity of grease to be discharged.

That part of the feeding device which is Connected to the grease receiving projection or fitting should be of such construction that it can be quickly attached and detached, preferably by lever manipulation, such as shown, rather than a screw, and when the lever is drawn up tightit should hold to the fitting even if the hand is removed, for in themac nipulation of the grease feeding plunger with one hand, the other would be unsteady, releasing pressure at'the connection and allowing a leakage. The clamping device should: have a 4 limit to its clamping and releasing travel to avoid unnecessary strain on the parts. "A wear take-up is required so that if there is not sufficient tension it can be readily adjusted, h and when so set will not shift out ofadjustment. The attachments are accurately made to an established form with very small allowmice for variation; The adjustment of the clamping device is used to take up the wear in the parts,'not to cover inaccuracy or variations in the parts. The present invention fulfills all of these requirements;

Although the feeder nozzle is rigid, great flexibility in use is obtained by the variable angle of attachment which is made possible by locating the port holes at various angles on the grease receiving fittin This flexibility isdiflerent and separate rom that produced by a fiexibleconduit but it enables an operator to engage fittings and to. avoid obstructions 69 which would otherwise be diflicult of access.

I claim;

- -1. The combination with a lubricant feeder, of abearing for receiving the lubricant having a feeder connection member, the

joining faces between the connection momher and the feeder comprising a spherical j oint-face having a port within the face and a contact'ring having a port within therring, and means for holding these faces in con tact through a range of varying angular positions with the port openings within the ring of contact. j

2. The combination with means forming a lubricant bearing nipple, of a rigidsup'ply" to clear an obstruction adj acentto the nipple without flexing the parts.

3. A grease feeder for detachable connection to a grease receivingbearing having a feeder projection comprising a slotted socket for making a detachable connection with feeder projections from a plurality of posi* tions in difi'erent planes;

4. A lubricant feeder for a. lurality of lubricant using bearings, each caring having a projection with a port holetherein, and the port holes of different projections being located at various angles with the axis of the projection, comprising means for detachably and positively connecting the feeder to each of said projections so that the" feeder will register with the port of said projection. I

5. A grease feeder for a plurality of bearin shaving spherical lubricant receivingpor ed members with, portopenings at varlous angles with the axes of said members comprising a source of. lubricant supply, means for holding the supply member in engagement with a ported member -to which it is applied, the joint face between the supply and ported member being of a circular form to permit the location of port openings in the bearings at said different angles.

6. A lubricant feeder for detachableiconnection to a hearing or receiving lubricant having a round tip with a ort opening therein in any one of a plura it of angles, and

means for attaching the fee er to a round tipv at an angle to communicate with the port thereof. i

- 7 A grease feeder for a means for receiving grease having a ported spherical pro ection with a grease admitti-n port at any loca-- tion on the sphere comprising a discharge nozzle and a connector movable onthe nozzle having an extremity adapted to fit over a spherical projection to connect the port thereof with the discharge nozzle.

8. ,A lubricant feeder for a mechanism having a plurality .of bearings each with a ported projection in which t e aperture to the port is at different relative angular positions and in different planes and hayrovided j ing a like contour of connecting faces at dif-' ferent port locations comprising a feeder nozzle, and means in connection with the feeder nozzle for universally connecting it with a ported projection in any one of the differentpositions to register with the apertures thereof. 7

QVA grease feeder for detachable connection to a port receiving device comprising means forming a spherical oint face adapted to be movably connected between the feeder and a receiving device to permit alterationin alignment of the feeder port in relation to a risin means for a l in ressure to a lubricant in the feeding device, and a detachable connection for engaging the feeding device, with the lubricant receivercomprlsing means for drawing the feeder up tightly against the receiver but ermitting slidable movement at the joint face of the feeder with the receiver.

12. A grease feeding system for a mechanism having a plurality of bearings with apertured projections at different points thereof comprising a rigid feeder member having Y means for making universal connections to said apertures for clearing obstructions,

means for detachably connecting the free end a of said feeder member with said apertures,

and lmeans for supplying lubricant under pressure to the other end of said feeder member. l

13. A lubricant feeder for detachable connection to a bearing having a ported feeder connection member comprising means forming a spherical jolnt face between the feeder and a connect on member with a port within the joint face, and a contact ring having a' port therein, and means for holding these.

faces in contact through a range of varying angular positions with respect to the port openings within the ring of contact.

14. The combination with a mechanism comprising av'variety of bearings located at different points thereof, each bearing provided with an aperture for receiving lubricant, of means for supplying lubricant to said apertures comprising a lubricant feeder having means for forming different angular connections to said apertures for clearing obstructions without requiring fiexure of said feeder, means for successively attaching the free end of said feeder to said apertures, and means for supplying lubricanifunder pressure to the other end of said 'feeder.

15. The combination with a .mechanism comprising a variety of bearings located-at different points thereof and at different angles, each bearing being provided with, an

aperture for receiving lubricant, of means for supplying lubricant to said apertures comprising nipples mounted thereon having ports which open at a plurality of different angles to clear obstructions, a quick detachable universal clamping means for successive- 1y attaching one end of said lubricant supplying means with said nipples, and comprising means for sealing the connection between said lubricant supply means and said nipples against the escape of lubricant, and

means attached to theother end of said lubricant supply means. for supplying lubricant thereto under pressure;

16. The combination with a lubricant nipple for a bearingfof a source of lubricant sup-' ply, means adapted to connect the source of lubricant to the nipple, said nipple forming a universal joint with said connecting means and having a port arranged to register with -the connecting means when the latter is applied thereto so that the connecting means may be free from fiexure when coupled to said nipple in various angular relationships.

17. In combination a lubricant'receiving member providedwith a head having a bearing. surface with a port therein, a lubricant supply member having a complementary bearing surface'with a port adapted to register with the first port, a clamping member arranged to embrace said head, and manually controlled means for moving the clamping vmember withrespect to the supply member to allow the application of the lubricant supply member to the receiving member and thereafter to positively clamp said members together. 3

18. In combination a lubricant receiving member provided with aheadhavingaspherical bearing surface with a port therein, a lubricant supply member having a complementary bearing surface adapted to have universal movement with respect thereto and having a port adapted to register-with the first port, a clamping member arranged to embrace said .head, and manually controlled means for moving the clamping member with respect to the supply.member to allow the application of the lubricant supply member to the receiving member and thereafter to positively clamp said members together while 1 allowing universal motion therebetween.

WILLIAM L. MORRI S3. 

